Michels Corporation
Michels Corporation is an international energy and infrastructure contractor based in Brownsville, Wisconsin. With more than 8,000 employees and more than 40 permanent offices and yards from coast to coast, Michels is the largest construction company in Wisconsin and among the largest in the United States.[2] Michels owns more than 14,000 pieces of heavy construction equipment and self-performs most of its work.[3]
| Industry | Utility, energy, infrastructure, engineering, design and construction contractor |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1959, Brownsville, Wisconsin (as Michels Pipeline Construction) |
| Headquarters | Brownsville, Wisconsin United States |
Key people | Pat Michels, President Tim Michels, Vice-President Kevin Michels, Vice President [1] |
Number of employees | 8,000 |
| Website | www.michels.us |
Michels is involved in various areas of energy and infrastructure construction, including pipeline, electrical power, transportation, horizontal directional drilling, deep foundations, communications networks, pipe rehabilitation, and sewer, water and tunnel construction and rehabilitation.[4] Michels has been involved in design-build and EPC projects, including transportation and power delivery.[5]
Michels Corporation was founded as Michels Pipeline Construction, Inc., but changed its name in 2001 to better reflect its utility construction services.[6] As of 2019, Michels Corporation was ranked No. 27 on the Engineering News-Record Top 400 Contractors list.[7][8] In 2013, 2014 and 2015, Michels Directional Crossings won Project of the Year honors from Trenchless Technology Magazine in the new installation category for its notable horizontal directional drill projects.[9][10]
History
Dale Michels founded the company in 1959 as a gas pipeline construction company and provided services to Wisconsin utilities. In 1963, Michels began providing outside plant construction and installation of buried telephone cable systems. The company expanded again in 1970, forming a Sewer, Water and Tunnel Division.[11]
In 1976, Michels began producing crushed aggregates to supply materials for various road and building construction projects throughout eastern Wisconsin. The next year, 1977, Michels began constructing rural water distribution systems throughout the Northern Plains. As part of this development, the company constructed water mains, laterals and residential water service.
Michels branched out into fiber optic cable systems in 1983. The company built customized equipment, including the design and fabrication of rail-mounted cable plows.
In 1988, Michels began a new method known as horizontal directional drilling to construct underground utilities.[12] The company expanded on this when it designed and manufactured the most powerful directional drilling rig to date in 1996. The rig was called "Hercules-1200" for its 1,200,000 pounds of push/pullback.
Michels acquired Superior Electric Company of Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1997, and changed the name to Michels Power. The company also established Michels Directional Crossings Co. in Canada.
Two years later, Michels acquired Redmond, Washington-based Pilchuck Contractors, Inc., to add to its West Coast capabilities. Michels also manufactured a second "Hercules-1200" in 1999.[13]
In 2001, what had been Michels Pipeline Construction became Michels Corporation due to the wide array of services the company had become involved in. Michels Corporation continued expanding in 2002, acquiring BBC as part of its Mid-America Line and Cable division. Michels also acquired Anderson Bros. & Johnson of Wausau, Wisconsin, the only company to mine deep-red granite in North America.
In 2003, the company also added yet another division in Michels Drilled Foundations.
Michels Mid-American Line and Cable changed its name to Michels Communications in 2004. The company also made another move on the West Coast, acquiring the cured-in-place pipe business of Gelco Services, Inc., based in Salem, Ore. The pipe rehabilitation operations are now called Michels Pipe Services. Michels also manufactured another drilling rig, the DD-840, bringing its total fleet to more than 65 drilling rigs.
Michels Paving was formed in 2005, offering paving services to public and private sectors. This move was bolstered by the assets of recently acquired PCC Construction Co. and its sister companies.[14][15]
In 2007, Michels Sewer, Water and Tunnel division took on a new identity as Michels Tunneling.[16]
In 2009, Michels celebrated its 50th anniversary. [17]
In 2011, Michels acquired Continental Fabrication Services, a full-service pipe fabrication operation in Carrollton, Mo.
In 2012, Michels acquired the foundations business of Edward E. Gillen Co. and renamed it Michels Foundations. [18]
In 2016, Michels began construction of the high-profile Mill Basin Bridge in Brooklyn, NY, as well as many other significant projects from coast to coast.[19] Michels is licensed to work in all 50 states and worked in 46 throughout the year.
Awards
2019 – #27 ENR’s Top 400 Contractors List [20]
2019 – #15 ENR’s Top Contractors in Power [20]
2019 – #1 ENR’s Top Contractors in Pipelines [20]
2019 – #14 ENR’s Top Contractors in Highways [20]
2019 – #4 ENR’s Top Contractors in Sanitary and Storm Sewers (Environment) [20]
2019 – #46 ENR’s Top Contractors in Transportation [20]
Markets Served
Commercial Aggregates
Services include mining, production and placement of custom-crushed aggregates, armor stone and granite to support transportation construction projects.[21]
Communications
Michels, installs fiber optics for new and maintenance of communication broadband networks in urban and rural markets.[22]
Electric Delivery
Michels builds and maintains safe, dependable electrical power transmission and distribution delivery systems, including substations, foundations, structures and conductors.[23]
Foundations
Michels provides design-build and construction capabilities serving the deep foundation, ground improvement and earth retention needs of the energy, heavy highway and building trade industries.[24]
Pipelines
New construction, maintenance and emergency repairs of all midstream and downstream oil and gas delivery systems.[25]
Railway Work
Michels is a pioneer of using rail plows to install communication and signaling systems.[26]
Renewable Energy
Services include construction management and installation of collection systems for solar and wind power projects.
Transportation
Construction and related services for highway, road, bridge and airport projects.[27]
Trenchless
Michels offers trenchless construction, including horizontal directional drilling and direct pipe.[28] Michels also offers trenchless installation and rehabilitation of water, wastewater and sewer mains utilizing cured-in-place pipe and spray-in-place pipe rehabilitation methods.[29]
Water/Wastewater
Comprehensive capabilities for construction and maintenance of water and wastewater services, including conveyance systems, pipelines and pump stations.
Canada
Michels Canada, a subsidiary of Michels Corporation, performs a wide variety of services in energy and infrastructure including: cured-in-place pipe rehabilitation, spray-in-place pipe rehabilitation, horizontal directional drilling, direct pipe, pipeline construction and tunnel construction. [30]
Project Examples
Bakken Missouri River Crossing
Michels completed a 2.5-mile Horizontal Directional Drill[31] in the Bakken[32] region of North Dakota. The directional drill project beneath the Missouri River and the Lake Sakakawea Reservoir was part of 10 miles of 20-inch diameter pipeline construction.
Nexus Pipeline[33]
Michels built 177 miles of 36-inch natural gas transmission pipeline, three meter and two compressor stations,[34] both with 29,700 HP single turbine engines. The project included 224 road bores, 88 crews and 12 Horizontal Directional Drills.[35]
Mill Basin Bridge
The Mill Basin Bridge in Brooklyn was part of the $700 million Belt Parkway[36] reconstruction project connecting highways in Brooklyn and Queens. The Belt Parkway reconstruction project received the 2018-2019 Construction Achievement Project of the Year Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Metropolitan Section and the 2019 Project of the Year Award from the New York State Society of Professional Engineers (NYSSPE).[37]
References
- Bloomberg Businessweek, "Company Overview of Michels Corporation"
- "Michels - Industry Leading Utility Contractor". www.michels.us. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
- "Michels - Industry Leading Utility Contractor". www.michels.us. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
- http://www.michels.us
- "Michels - Industry Leading Utility Contractor". www.michels.us. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
- http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-10861965_ITM
- http://enr.construction.com/toplists/Contractors/001-100.asp
- HighBeam
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2014-03-10.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- http://trenchlessonline.com/project-year-new-installation
- http://www.answers.com/topic/michels-corporation
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-05-31. Retrieved 2009-11-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-109669469/2003-large-directional-drilling.html
- http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-11263024_ITM
- http://www.alacrastore.com/storecontent/rbi/WBM042805_6
- http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-33560502_ITM
- http://trenchlessonline.com/family-values/
- http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2012/02/13/michels-corp-buys-gillen-foundation.html
- "Michels - Industry Leading Utility Contractor". www.michels.us. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
- "Engineering News-Record Top Lists". www.enr.com. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
- https://www.michels.us/market/construction-materials/
- https://www.michels.us/market/communications/
- https://www.michels.us/market/power-delivery/
- https://www.michels.us/market/deep-foundations/
- https://www.michels.us/market/oil-gas/
- https://www.michels.us/market/railway-work/
- michels.us/market/transportation/
- https://www.michels.us/market/oil-gas/
- https://www.michels.us/market/sewer-water/
- https://www.michelscanada.com/
- "Directional drilling", Wikipedia, 2019-11-28, retrieved 2020-04-22
- "Bakken Formation", Wikipedia, 2020-04-01, retrieved 2020-04-22
- "Spectra Energy", Wikipedia, 2020-03-29, retrieved 2020-04-22
- "Compressor station", Wikipedia, 2020-04-15, retrieved 2020-04-22
- "WATCH: NEXUS pipeline construction". Pipelines International. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
- "Belt Parkway", Wikipedia, 2020-03-08, retrieved 2020-04-22
- "The New York State Society of Professional Engineers Awards New York City's 5-Mile Belt Parkway Bridge Replacement Project as the 2019 Construction Project of the Year". nysspe.org. Retrieved 2020-04-22.